Without You
by ShippingMergana
Summary: The trio return from their long journey through the desert. Pythagoras's dangerous past has grave consequences and it's up to Jason to help his best friend. ONE SHOT. Set after 1x08 (The Furies).


"Look on the bright side..." The unlikely trio had returned the chest to Philemon's father, who was not pleased. "We've still got our fingers." Hercules chuckled heartily.  
"Barely just." Pythagoras coldly snapped back. His golden locks stuck to his forehead from the heat and his eyes were red with tiredness. They spent the journey home in complete silence. Even triangles could not get him to talk.  
"Pythagoras, wait." Jason worriedly called after his friend but he did not listen. Ever since coming to Atlantis, Jason felt more at home, more so than in his old flat above the chippy. Part of the reason was Pythagoras; without his friend, he felt lost.  
"Maybe, he needs some time alone." Hercules suggested. It had been many years since he saw Pythagoras act in this manner. He'd only ever been this angry when Hercules sold the house in a gambling match.  
"Yes. I know...I fear what he might do."  
"It's Pythagoras. He'll be fine." Hercules gave a loving pat on Jason's back. "We're back home now. I've got things to do...people to see."  
"Medusa?" He grinned at an excited Hercules who was already halfway to Medusa's door.

* * *

Jason caught his reflection in a pool of water by his feet. Fixing up his hair and wiping the dirt off his face, he waited by a side street by the temple. The moon was particularly bright; the gods were smiling upon him today. _The Gods_, Jason chuckled, _how weird_. A part of him had hoped that, if they did exist, they were protecting Pythagoras.  
"Thinking about someone?" The light voice came from behind him and he recognized it instantly.  
"No, just you." He turned to face Ariadne, protected by a dark cloak.  
"Jason, if you're going to talk like that all the time, I fear I'm going to have to cover my ears."  
"It is a bit cringey, I suppose." Jason became quieter, he isolated himself from her.  
"Cringey? You use the most unusual words." Ariadne grinned at this bizarre human being, who barely could lift a smile. "What is troubling you?"  
"Jason?" Ariadne stood opposite him, her hand holding his cheek. A warm tear began rolling down his cheek. Jason brushed it off and straightened himself as if the tears might hurt his machismo. "You can trust me, Jason."

She recalled what Jason has said before, what seems like a lifetime ago, but it had barely had been a month.  
"Say you had a friend... She had done something very, very...wrong. I- It wasn't his fault and she almost died for it. I just don't- What do I do to help her now?" Jason's speech was broken, the words stuck in his throat.  
"Are you in trouble?"  
"No...it's not me." Jason interrupted.  
"Jason, it's all right if you don't want to tell me. But I am sorry I cannot help you. I can only request you seek guidance from the Oracle or allow the Gods to decide your friend's fate." Ariadne became increasingly worried at the sight of him. He looked as if a young boy had lost his mother- just, adrift.  
"What use are the 'mighty' gods, Ariadne? Poseidon? Zeus? Why would they do this to someone a-a-as kind, as caring as him? _Her_." In a fit of anger and frustration, Jason has almost forgotten the mask he put over Pythagoras, but Ariadne was not stupid. There's only a few people that made him feel this way, it wasn't her, Medusa or even Hercules. It was _Pythagoras_.

"Stop, Jason. This is blasphemy. Blaming the gods will not help him now!" Ariadne raised her voice above his worried cries and brought him to her shoulder. "You have to go...Go and find Pythagoras. You have to talk to him. Let him know that it will be all right."  
"...What?"  
"Come with me. I saw him earlier, he was upset and he was heading down-" Ariadne stopped in mid-sentence. Shock overcame her.  
"Where?"  
"To the river."

* * *

"Stop! Don't do it!" Jason screamed up at Pythagoras. He stood on a tall bridge looking down at the deep waters. The river was still, barely moving, apart from the odd disturbance from rocks falling.  
"I have to." Pythagoras whispered. "I have to!"  
"Arcas forgave you. I-I-I don't understand." Jason stammered.  
"You wouldn't. You've never met your parents. You wouldn't know what it was like to have a father like mine."  
"I do. Not a father, a mother." Ariadne pleaded with him. "To have them twist your life and push you around as if you're nothing. I know what it's like, I understand."  
"It's different for you, princess. You won't have to live with killing someone for the rest of your life." Pythagoras took a small step forward.  
"You're right, I won't have to, just yet." Jason looked at her, confused. "But, look, you're letting your father decide your fate, even now. You are letting him _win_."  
Ariadne's words rung through his ears, a realisation started to overcome him.  
"No...Th-That's not true." Pythagoras stammered. He took a smaller step forward, a small push could tip him over the edge.

"The first time we met, you saved my life. You have let me do the same." Jason's attempts were useless, he was numb.  
"What sort of life would I live, Jason? One where I cannot close my eyes without seeing his face every night? One where I cannot be a father because I live in fear of what I might become?" Tears streamed down his cheeks by their own accord.  
"You did the right thing. The only thing. Otherwise, where would you be right now? Your mother? Arcas?" Jason's voice was echoing through the riverside before it came down to a whisper. _"Imagine what I'd be without you."_

Ariadne looked at Jason, broken by his emotions. He was right - without his best friend, he was nothing. He wouldn't have even met her. Losing Korinna was more grief than she had ever experienced and even Jason couldn't survive that.  
"Come down, Pythagoras." Ariadne's pleas were reaching the young mathematician but even his clever mind could not calculate a solution but one.  
"It is my _fate_ to die."  
"But we haven't done all the things we were meant to do. It isn't your fate to die now." Jason cried.  
"That is the lament of all men." Pythagoras started counting down.

_3..._  
"Goodbye, Jason."  
_2..._  
"PYTH, DON'T DO IT!"  
_1..._  
"**DON'T**!"

Pythagoras hit the water with an almighty splash, breaking into the silence. He let his thin frame sink into the water. The surroundings becoming darker and darker as he fell into the abyss. Shutting his eyes, he allowed death to find him. He felt a strong pull from behind him, dragging him into a bright light.

* * *

Pushing out the river from his lungs, Pythagoras woke from his sleep. He coughed furiously and was covered by layers of blankets. He was surrounded by a sea of new faces...  
"You gave us a scare there, mate. What were you doing so deep in the ocean?"  
"Ocean...What..?"  
"I mean in this weather, this sort of Comic Con costume is hardly going to protect you from the rain."  
The strange man was mocking his clothing, as far as Pythagoras could tell. He was wearing a gold necklace, one he recognized. It was Jason's. He had that necklace ever since he had arrived.  
"You're wearing- that necklace... Where did you get it?"  
"It's a family heirloom...Why should it matter to you?"  
"Jason. That's Jason's."  
"What did you say?" The man became suddenly aggressive.  
"Do you know Jason?"  
The man paused.  
"He's my son."


End file.
